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How Hulu showed up Netflix 5 years ago

Elisabeth Moss clutches two Emmys at the 2017 ceremony.
Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” became the first drama series winner from a streamer in 2017. Elisabeth Moss stars in the series, nearing its fifth season, and also won for lead actress in a drama that year.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
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This is one of our nine most surprising, historic and memorable moments from past Emmys. See the full list.

It wasn’t Netflix’s moody “House of Cards,” which premiered four years prior, that took home the first drama series Emmy for a streamer in 2017. It was Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” from creator Bruce Miller and starring Elisabeth Moss as June, a “handmaid” forced to produce children for a new ruling class of men. The series is approaching its fifth season, which Miller assures fans “will not take place in space,” but it was those early days that created buzz for the series with such dialogue as “Under His eye,” “Praise be” and “Blessed be the fruit” permeating pop culture lexicon. “We were thrilled to be nominated, especially with all the great shows on television. Winning was beyond any reasonable hopes,” Miller recalls. “The award gave everyone involved encouragement to continue working so very hard. For the producers, it creates opportunities. Most of all, it just feels awesome, honestly, to have your peers say ‘nice job.’” Season 5 launches in September.

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